new to Java EE 5

> 1) do i need Java EE instead of Java SE for web

> development? i ask because before i did some simple

> JSP/Servlet stuff with only J2SE SDK and Tomcat...

You need Java EE with Java SE, not instead.

Tomcat is a web container and it has the implementation of the servletjsp classes which are available in EE.

> 2) what is the purpose of Glassfish? i read that it

> is an application server...what is an application

> server for? what is the purpose of Glassfish over

> Java EE SDK/JRE?

Glassfish is an application server which is used for web applications (web container) as well as enterprise components like EJB.

> 3) for web development in Java, which IDE should i

> use? Eclipse or NetBeans? what are their pros and

> cons?

If you are going to use Glassfish, Netbeans would be a better choice because it integrates well. For all other application servers, I prefer Eclipse because I don't know how to configure Netbeans and I have been using Eclipse for a long time. The choice of IDE is more of personal ease of use rather than actual feature comparison.

> 4) i know in these years, there are several popular

> java frameworks for web development such as Struts,

> Spring, etc...now for Java EE 5, what would be a good

> framework to use? Would JSF be the right direction to

> go as it is a framework from Sun?

I haven't ever used JSF to comment on that but I would suggest that you use Spring for good and clean development.

annie79a at 2007-7-8 22:46:27 >

> you mean i need both of them installed? what is the

> procedure? like if i go to the following link for the

> SDK of Java EE 5...i still need to go to download SE

> and install it?

>

> http://java.sun.com/javaee/downloads/index.jsp

Select the "Download with JDK option". You will get all that you need.

> so Glassfish is a counterpart of Tomcat? like i can

> use Glassfish instead of Tomcat? how about Apache? i

> have been using Apache as the web server whilte

> Tomcat being the app server...how does Glassfish

> integrate with Apache? or what web server should i

> use with Glassfish?

Yes, you can use Glassfish instead of Tomcat but you cannot always use Tomcat instead of Glassfish. Tomcat does not have all the functionalities of an app server. It can be extended to be used like one.

If I remember, Glassfish has Tomcat as the web container so it's not going to differ in the way you integrate with Apache.

> i don't know whether i should use Glassfish...it

> seems to me that it is expanding...and as i only had

> very little experience with Tomcat...switching to

> Glassfish would not be a waste of extra time for

> me...should i go with Glassfish then? or Tomcat is

> still considered more stable/reliable/compatible?

Glassfish is more reliable than Tomcat. I have at least one major application with Glassfish in production; I wouldn't think of doing that with Tomcat.

> also...if Eclipse is good in other stuff...is it a

> good idea to find out more about Eclipse's support to

> Glassfish instead of going for NetBeans?

Both the IDEs have some common features and some slightly different. In my opinion, it doesn't take much time to switch over from one IDE to another. Anyway, Eclipse does have a plugin for Glassfish. The very thing I like about Eclipse is that you think of a plugin and you have one (or write one on your own). :)

> i understand this...as JSF is still quite new and

> developers have been using Struts and Spring

> forever...

I haven't used JSF because I have limited exposure to web applications these days. Most of my work is in developing enterprise components. Within my limited work with web applications, I used Struts once; not enough to remember what I did. I find Spring useful in all layers of the application.

annie79a at 2007-7-8 22:46:27 >